Maryland and Virginia leaders have opposing views when it comes to where the FBI should build its new headquarters. Maryland representatives insist that Greenbelt and Landover make the most sense, while their counterparts across the Potomac River greatly prefer the third option identified by the General Services Administration, a site in Springfield, Va. What regional leaders agree on is that the FBI must abandon its current building, a crumbling hulk on Pennsylvania Avenue, near the U.S. Capitol. They have been pushing the U.S. General Services Administration, the federal government’s property management arm, to move the agency out of D.C. for over a decade.

Federal income tax rates range from 10 percent in the lowest income bracket to 37 percent at the highest bracket. At the state level, Maryland levies progressive rates ranging from 2 percent to 5.75 percent. This might suggest that the rich face substantially higher tax rates than the poor. Yet, a holistic examination of the income tax code reveals the opposite: Low-income households face the steepest tax rates, and Maryland makes it worse. What explains this counterintuitive trend? Means testing: a determination of whether a household is eligible for the full amount, partial amount, or none of a government benefit based on their income. For example, the Earned Income Tax Credit withdraws $21 for each $100 of earnings above $19,520, for parents with two children. This is equivalent to taxing that parent at a 21 percent rate. Either way, the

Charm City Live, a one-day free arts festival featuring musicians with national reputations, will debut Saturday, Sept. 24, at the War Memorial Plaza in Baltimore. Mayor Brandon Scott announced Tuesday that the event, which will take place from noon to 8 p.m., will include live performances by recording artists such as Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, a kids’ zone and food from local eateries. Scott said the new festival is aimed at celebrating the melting pot of the vibrant cultures that make up Charm City. “I am excited to have Charm City Live be another opportunity … to gather for a day full of festivities designed to appeal to a diverse group of people,” Scott said in a news release.

Harford County leaders gathered at Aberdeen Proving Ground midday Monday to survey the military base at its first Immersion Day since the pandemic began. The “windshield tour” of the post included Edgewood Area stops at the Medical Research Institute for Chemical Defense and the Chemical Biological Center; a tech expo display by the Army’s Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Center, which is headquartered at Aberdeen; a Science of Sound demo at the Aberdeen Test Center; a visit to the 20th CBRNE Command, the Army’s Chemical, Biological, Nuclear, Radiological, Explosives headquarters, also based at APG, to hear how the command would respond to a nuclear incident; and a visit to the range where the visitors were able to try their hand at firing some of the weapons being tested there.

I don’t claim to know exactly how Lynn Weisberg feels, nearly two years after her son’s death, but I can empathize with her frustration in trying to get information about it. Official sources — the Baltimore City Fire Department and the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems — have refused to discuss how emergency medical personnel treated Weisberg’s 44-year-old son, Jeremy Davidson, in the last 90 minutes of his life. The BCFD and the MIEMSS cited state law in denying my requests for the results of any investigations that might have taken place after Davidson’s death.

In episode 35 of The Lobby, Damian comes to you live from the biggest lobby in Maryland, the MACo Summer Conference in beautiful Ocean City. This is part 2 of a multi-part series with leaders from around Maryland at the biggest gathering of elected officials and insiders in the state. For part 2, Damian is talking workforce with Ed Lovern, CEO of Ascension Saint Agnes in Baltimore. Ed gives Damian the inside look at healthcare workforce issues in the state, his role with the Maryland Hospital Association, and what makes Maryland medicine so special. Later, stick around while Damina tells Ed about his own mother and her experience with Saint Agnes as a nurse. Come back tomorrow for part 3! We hope to see you soon in The Lobby.

The last time a national audience watched the Orioles play a game on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball,” Baltimore lost to the New York Yankees, 5-3, at Camden Yards. That was Aug. 26, 2018. Much has changed since then. By that point in the season, the sell-off that signaled the start of Baltimore’s rebuild had already transpired. Even so, none of the nine players in the starting lineup that night remain with the Orioles now, with Trey Mancini the most recent departure. In the remaining month of the season following that defeat in front of a nationally televised crowd, Baltimore would flounder its way to its first of three 100-loss seasons out of the spotlight. But when the Orioles arrive at the Little League Classic in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, the eyes of the country will be on them once more as part of ESPN’s broadcast.